Massachusetts Social Security Disability Lawyers Blog

Ponder v. Colvin, an appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, involved a claimant who alleged she had been disabled since January of 2005. Her claim for total disability was based upon depression, anxiety, swelling in her hands and feet, joint deterioration, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), insomnia, tissue pain, fatigue, complications from brain surgery, and other medical conditions.

Claimant stated in her application she can only sit in a chair for less than 45 minutes due to knee pain and can only walk one city block before needing to stop and rest. She also stated that can perform light housework, including cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. She can also drive a vehicle and go to church and family visits. Her application for disability benefits was denied.
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Gieseke v. Colvin, an appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, involved a claimant who had a long history of low back pain that was aggravated by a workplace injury. The injury occurred in 2006. After completing physical therapy, claimant returned to work with certain activity restrictions. He left work in 2008 and had not worked since that time, when he applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) with the United States Social Security Administration (SSA).

Claimant listed lower back pain, dizziness and problems with one leg as conditions that prevented him from working. During a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ), a vocational expert (VE) testified claimant had substantial impairments, including a degenerative disc disease in his spine, obesity, and a history of substance abuse. He also testified that claimant could occasionally lift up to 20 pounds, frequently lift up to 10 pounds, and could sit or stand for up to six hours per day.
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Despite the impending budgetary problems facing the Social Security Administration’s Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), current claimants are in need of an increase in disability benefits, due to a general rise in consumer prices.

As discussed in a recent news article by The Wall Street Journal, the level of benefits is supposed to be based upon the Consumer Price Index. The program allows for cost-of-living adjustments when indicated, based upon inflation and increases in consumer prices.

The latest increase will be a modest increase of 1.7 percent will go into effect for SSDI recipients starting Dec. 31, 2014. The previous increase was 1.5 percent, and there was an increase of 1.7 percent in 2013.
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The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program run by the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be out of money for benefits in 2016 unless Congress finds a way to fund the program. There is no shortage of articles discussing how the program is about to go over a budgetary cliff, leaving SSDI claimants without benefits.

Amid the negative coverage, a recent article from the Brookings Institute, a policy think-tank, takes a look at what Congress can do to fix the problem before we reach the edge. The author first notes that the social security tax that everyone pays is split into two separate groups. The majority of the money goes to fund federal pensions for retired workers and surviving spouses. The remaining portion goes to fund the SSDI program.

If nothing is done to fix the problem, every SSDI beneficiary will face a 20 percent cut in benefits in 2016. This coincides with the next presidential election, and it has been suggested that this may have something to do with whether legislatures are willing to fund the program.
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There are many problems with the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application and approval process. This is evident by the fact that the Social Security Administration (SSA) initially rejects the vast majority of all applications and forces disabled Americans in desperate need of benefits to go through a long and complicated appeals process.

One recent news feature from the National Review Online takes a look at problems with many administrative law judges (ALJs) who oversee the appeals process and conduct hearings for denied claimants.

The reporter sought records – including e-mails, internal memos, and other correspondence that might reveal the veracity of Congressional allegations of misconduct, conflicts of interest and other unethical or even illegal behavior by ALJs. However, when a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed, the SSA responded it would neither confirm nor deny the existence of any such records.
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Disability can affect anyone no matter his or her level of education, amount of money made before becoming disabled, or social status. The reality is that when someone becomes disabled and can no longer work, if that individual did not have private long term disability insurance (most people don’t), he or she will have a tough time getting social security disability insurance (SSDI) benefits without the assistance of an attorney who regularly handles disability matters.

According to a recent news article for the New Britain Herald, one new program in Connecticut is aimed at helping the homeless get disability benefits and social security benefits so they can afford to live and get the medical attention they need.

The problem is that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has created a system that is geared towards denying people benefits and delaying the process. It is not merely a case of too many applicants and too few claims employees. This is evident by the fact that nearly every application is denied after being filed. It does not matter what the disability is or the claimant’s need.
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According to a recent news feature from AL.com, the Social Security disability system is virtually impossible to navigate without legal representation, according to applicants.

One disability benefits applicant waited four years for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to approve her application. She had worked as a nurse for 13 years at a local hospital but began to suffer from severe gastrointestinal issues that required bypass surgery. It is thought that bypass surgery was the cause of her developing pancreatitis.
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Moore, Jr. v. Colvin, an appeal heard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, involved claimant who applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act.

At a hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ) with the Social Security Administration (SSA), the ALJ determined that claimant was not disabled, because of jobs identified by a vocational expert (VE). These jobs were identified in response to a hypothetical created by the ALJ.
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In recent months there have been an increasing number of news articles that warn us that the funding for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits administered by the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) will run out in less than two years, unless more money is allocated by Congress. This is what news commentators and politicians are referring to as the SSDI cliff, over which the program is poised to fall.

One recent article from the Huffington Post looks at a new program that may be a partial solution to the problem with the SSDI system, known as the Achieving a Better Live Experience (ABLE) bill. ABLE, which is said to have bipartisan support, would allow people who became disabled at a young age to receive training and support to allow them to work in new higher paying fields, despite their disability, while still receiving SSDI benefits.
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